


breathing underwater

by fullsunlet



Series: Christmas Christmas Time is Here [12]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: M/M, Swim Meet, archery competition, slight angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-07
Updated: 2020-01-07
Packaged: 2021-02-25 09:08:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,146
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22153570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fullsunlet/pseuds/fullsunlet
Summary: Winning the gold meant nothing for Donghyuck if Mark wasn’t by his side.
Relationships: Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee
Series: Christmas Christmas Time is Here [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1579702
Comments: 6
Kudos: 136





	breathing underwater

**Author's Note:**

> \- jaehyuck best roommates  
> \- for those who came from reading the jaedo fic, markhyuck have their own varsity jackets too but they swapped with one another the minute they got them (though renjun thinks it was very pointless since the jackets practically look the same)
> 
> \- this is the end of the series! I had a lot of fun writing most of them and thank you to everyone who’s been reading them and leaving comments :D  
> \- I don’t think I will be continuing any of them/ turning it into a longer fic but I might tweet my musings some times...maybe...but yes, this is all

Hands steady on the bow, Donghyuck raised it higher, pulled the string taut as he focused on the bullseye. He had done this a hundred, maybe even a thousand times. It was something natural to him - the weight of the bow in his hand, the stretch of the bow string against his fingers.

All he had left to do was to release the arrow.

There was a reason for him to be more nervous than usual, less confident than usual. It was the season’s finals and he was a bullseye away from winning the gold medal. Of course, he hadn’t expected his competition to be easy. They both made it to the finals after all. But what Donghyuck felt more stressed about was how his boyfriend of five years wasn’t at the field supporting him because of a stupid fight they had. Because of a stupid fight that Donghyuck had initiated and was too stubborn to back down and apologise.

Gold medals hardly meant anything if Mark wasn’t there to cheer for him or celebrate with him after.

No time for distractions then, not when the gold medal was almost in his reach. But a familiar figure caught his eye and he was almost tempted to lower the bow to have a closer look.

He didn’t have to though. It was Mark. He just knew that it was Mark.

Taking in a deep breath, Donghyuck released the arrow, the blood in his veins thrumming and everything seemed to be moving in slow-motion until the tip of the arrow pierced the center of the target and cheers erupted from the stands. Donghyuck hardly heard the announcer congratulating him on the gold medal as his eyes scanned the crowd for his boyfriend.

Mark was there, somewhere in the stands. Mark was there, Donghyuck just _knew it_. He wasn’t where he had been sitting earlier, when Donghyuck had caught a glimpse of him and had been momentarily distracted. Although if his coach had noticed, Donghyuck would argue that it was Mark’s presence, knowing that Mark was up there in the stands despite their petty argument that helped Donghyuck land his arrow on the bullseye.

Yet, Donghyuck couldn’t find Mark no matter how desperately he was searching for the other. Too caught up in looking for Mark, he almost shrugged his coach’s hand off his arm when the latter wanted to lead him to the podium to take his gold medal.

Then, eyes flying to the exit, Donghyuck caught Mark leaving and all he wanted to do that moment was to run over and stop him from leaving, apologise for being so difficult, and how he simply wanted to be in Mark’s arms again.

“Don’t leave, don’t leave,” Donghyuck muttered under his breath, his heart begging Mark to stay so that he could at least see Donghyuck receiving his gold. There was no way Mark heard him, no way Mark could have heard him. They were standing too far apart, way too far. But Mark’s hand stilled at the handle then and he looked over his shoulder, meeting Donghyuck’s eyes.

Pride pushed aside, Donghyuck mouthed, _stay_ , as he was led up the podium by his coach. He only turned his attention back to the cameras when he saw Mark taking a seat at the top corner of the stands.

Every second spent smiling at the cameras was a second that Mark could easily slip away. It wasn’t Donghyuck’s fault that his eyes naturally went to the spot Mark had occupied one too many times until his coach barked at him to pay attention.

Donghyuck wanted the gold, of course he did. He had trained hard every single day for it. He had worked so hard just for it. But now that the medal was resting on his chest, he couldn’t help but wonder if it was worth the fight he had with Mark.

He should have seen it coming, with the way he kept on ditching Mark to practice longer, to shoot another arrow, to ensure another bullseye. Should have seen it coming every time he didn’t show up to Mark’s swim meets because he couldn’t hear his alarm in the morning because he had been practising till late the night before. Should have seen it coming when he shouted at Mark when all the other had done was to show concern for Donghyuck’s health, never blaming him once for missing his swimming events.

It wasn’t like Donghyuck never showed up to Mark’s competitions. He had, many times, just less than the number of times Mark turned up for his archery events which was basically all the time. Donghyuck felt his chest tighten at the knowledge that, despite their cold war, Mark still turned up because he knew how much seasonals meant to Donghyuck, knew how much his support would mean to him.

Raising his gaze to meet Mark’s own, Donghyuck brought the medal to his lips. He pressed a kiss to it, unbothered by how cool it felt. All he hoped for was that Mark understood the words that were spoken in his heart: _this is for you, love_.

Donghyuck’s coach was barking at him again, telling him to face the cameras and to stop staring at his adoring fans in the stands and Donghyuck had half a mind to correct him that it wasn’t his ‘adoring fans’ that it was looking at. It was his boyfriend whom he adored so much.

But the spell was broken and when Donghyuck finally had a breather from the flashing lights, he looked up and saw that Mark was already gone.

That evening, he left his own celebratory party early because he wasn’t in the mood. There couldn’t be anyone more miserable than him.

How wrong he was proven the moment he stepped into his dorm room and saw his roommate screaming into his pillow. Jaehyun was usually a calm and collected guy, but right then, he was anything but the usual Jung Jaehyun, captain and star player of the basketball team.

“I should be the one screaming,” Donghyuck said, announcing his arrival as his roommate evidently didn’t even hear him walking in.

Lifting his face off the pillow, Jaehyun glared at Donghyuck. “Just apologise to Mark and get on with life.”

“Just confess to Doyoung and get on with life then,” Donghyuck bit back instantly, crossing his arms and hitting his chin out, daring Jaehyun to deny his (very obvious) feelings for the Debate Society’s President.

“I did,” Jaehyun managed to get out meekly. “And then I ran away and I left my varsity jacket in his room and I don’t know how to get it back now.”

“What do I get out of comforting you?” Donghyuck asked, knowing that he shouldn’t take advantage of the situation, except he really should because Jaehyun was best friends with Mark’s cousin.

“Mark’s swim event timing two days from now.”

“Deal.”

*

It wasn’t one of the big swim meets so few people knew about it, and even less people turned up for it. The usual crowd was still there and Donghyuck was kind of proud of himself for recognising these familiar faces. He did go to enough of Mark’s events to know these people.

At this point, Donghyuck didn’t even know why he and Mark were still fighting. _Were_ they even still fighting though? It seemed to Donghyuck that the disagreement between them had long vanished, only both parties were too stubborn to approach the other for a reconciliation. Until the night before when Donghyuck just couldn’t stand the radio silence any longer and had decided to drop Mark a simple text that conveyed all the other things he wanted to tell the other at the same time.

 _Good luck for tomorrow. I’ll be in the stands,_ was what the message read. Though Donghyuck sincerely hoped that Mark was able to read between the lines, read the, _I’m sorry and I miss you. The gold isn’t worth anything without you by my side. I love you._

All Mark gave was a thumbs-up accompanied by a smiley face in response which Donghyuck didn’t really know what to make of them either.

Sitting in the stands, Donghyuck suddenly realised how long it had been since he had been up there in the stands of the swimming complex, watching Mark compete. Far too long. He may be able to recognise the usual competition-goers but he definitely wasn’t as dedicated as them.

Sighing, he decided that he could dwell on how awful and unsupportive he had been towards Mark another time since he was actually being supportive then.

Craning his neck, he tried looking for Mark amongst the competitors, lips tugging up into a smile when he spotted a familiar swim cap, a plain blue one with white stripes decorating its sides. It was a gift from Donghyuck on their third anniversary while Mark had given Donghyuck new archery gloves.

There were people in the stands already cheering, shouting names of their friends and loved ones to show their encouragement. While Donghyuck usually _loved_ shouting Mark’s name, he found that going over to his boyfriend would be the best show of support.

“Mark,” Donghyuck called from the stands.

Face brightening up in delight, Mark jogged the small distance over to the stands, his happy expression falling when he realised that they were too far apart for him to reach out to Donghyuck’s face.

“Good luck,” Donghyuck said as he rested his chin atop his folded arms on the railing. Smiling down at the swimmer, Donghyuck then pressed a kiss to his index and middle finger before pointing them at Mark as Mark beamed brightly before doing the same back to Donghyuck.

It was enough for Donghyuck to know that Mark was going to win both the events he was participating in.

And Donghyuck was hardly wrong.

When the final relay match came to an end and Mark’s team appeared first on the scoreboard, Donghyuck shot up from his seat, cheering loudly for Mark.

Excitedly, Donghyuck ran towards the stairs, wanting nothing more but to throw his arms around Mark and congratulate him on his win when a security guard stopped him from climbing down, telling him to wait because there was still the awards ceremony.

Right.

Donghyuck stood by the stairs, prepared to dash down as soon as he received the go signal while he watched the presentation of the medals on the big projector screen. Mark appeared on the screen then, looking utterly confused as he tried looking for Donghyuck in the stands, a fond smile appearing on his face when he spotted Donghyuck waving madly at him from where he was by the stairs.

Pressing the two medals to his lips, Mark smiled in Donghyuck’s direction, hoping that the latter was looking at the screen, and could understand what Mark was trying to say - _these are for you_.

As soon as the security guard left his place, Donghyuck was running down the stairs, skipping two steps at a time, and made his way to the podium even before Mark stepped down.

“Congrats, champion.” Donghyuck blinked at Mark flirtily as the other grinned back, fighting back a blush.

Jumping off the podium, Mark ignored Donghyuck’s shriek when he pulled him into a hug.

Trying to push Mark away and failing because of how his hand kept on slipping, Donghyuck grumbled, “you’re making my clothes wet.”

“I don’t care.” Mark made his point by squeezing Donghyuck tighter. “And you shouldn’t care either.”

Finally releasing Donghyuck, Mark flashed him a toothy smile and Donghyuck’s glare was instantly reduced into a look of adoration.

“Can we stop fighting?” Mark asked with a sigh, hands playing with the two medals hung around his neck. “Please?” he added on meekly, letting his hand fall to his side as he looked at Donghyuck hopefully. “I don’t want to fight with you anymore.”

Hurriedly nodding, Donghyuck was quick to agree, “Me too. I’m sorry for always being so difficult. Thank you for staying by my side these five years.”

“I love you, Donghyuck.”

And people said, actions spoke louder than words. Donghyuck would be the first to disagree, smiling contently with the words Mark had just spoken.

“I love you too, Mark.”

With a shy smile on his face, Mark removed both his medals before putting them over Donghyuck’s head. “You look better in gold.”

Donghyuck should really let Mark head back to the changing room first but he couldn’t wait a second longer to crash their lips together, hands looping around Mark’s neck as he pressed his body closer to the swimmer, not bothering about his clothes anymore since they were already wet.

Smiling into the kiss, Donghyuck tried not to think about gloating in Jaehyun’s face about his wonderful relationship that night. _If_ he was even heading back to his dorm room.

**Author's Note:**

> [twt](https://twitter.com/fullsunlet)
> 
> Comments and kudos are appreciated!


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